My Dirty Little Secret

I like bacteria. I let my kids eat dirt. Sometimes (okay most of the time) I forget to wash their hands before dinner.

And I’m okay with that.

In this world of antibiotics, antibacterial soap and antimicrobial clothing most people think I’m snuggled up in a nice, warm petri dish full of the enemy. All I can say is . . . yep.

How did you spend your first year of marriage? Mine was a process of becoming incapacitated by cascading failures all across my body’s functional systems. It started with hives, then moved to severe abdominal pain, heart palpitations, fatigue, humiliating acne and weight loss that reduced me to nothing but a skeletal silhouette.

The established medical community gave me a nice little label – autoimmune disorder NOS (not otherwise specified) – also known as “your body is attacking itself and we have no freaking idea why . . deal with it.“

Natural Born Killers

So I did. It took a long time, but I did eventually learned why my immune system was going haywire. Each of us are born with natural killer cells (NK cells) designed to seek and destroy abnormal cells such as cancers and viruses. Their sole function is to fight, but all too often we eliminate their natural enemies with the overuse of antibiotics.

To make things worse, antibiotics and antibacterial cleaners/soaps/etc kill both harmful and beneficial bacteria indiscriminately. Beneficial bacteria are designed to help us fight infections. When they bite the dust alongside their bad brothers, we become more vulnerable to future infection, which requires more antibiotics, leading to more infection . . . the cycle goes on and on. Where beneficial bacteria used to thrive, helping us with essential functions like digestion and detoxification, we have become a wasteland. That’s when NK cells find a new enemy . . . us.¹

Imagine your body is the earth. There are good armies and bad armies, and then there’s a little battalion of  good army robots designed to seek out and destroy the stray soldiers from the evil empire (muah hahahaha!). One day the whole world goes nuclear (aka a course of antibiotics that kills indiscriminately), and most of the armies are wiped out. The robot special force is unaffected, but most of the enemy they’re designed to seek out and destroy an enemy no longer exists. Unfortunately they can’t override their programming, so they begin attacking friendlies instead. That, in a nutshell, is the sci-fi definition of an autoimmune disorder. For a more complete explanation of germ theory and why Pasteur got it wrong check out this post.

Winning The Culture War

To maintain health we need to build up the good armies and avoid nuclear options like antibiotics as much as possible. Unfortunately, we’re drinking antibiotics whether we like it or not, so there has never been a more important time to build up the good bacteria in our bodies. (I’m not sure how a battle analogy took over this post, sorry!)

Now, most of this is probably not new to you, but maybe like me you’ve gotten lax about including probiotic-rich fermented food in your diet. If you’re ready to turn that around and start summer healthier, happier and more colonized, I have a suggestion!

Jenny from Nourished Kitchen just launched Get Cultured! How to Ferment Anything. And seriously ya’ll, she means anything! Honey-wine, homemade soda, barbecue sauce, even BACON. With 100 recipes featuring everything from coconut kefir to sour pickles and condiments like ketchup and mustard there is literally something for everyone. And the best part is she shares the principles behind the recipes so you can create your own!

Tomorrow I’ll share a little more about the class, but seriously you should check it out. Let’s put our spring/summer produce to good use this year!

[UPDATE: Jenny just sent me a coupon code for an additional $50 off. That takes the price from $147 to $97, or 50% off regular price. Use coupon code SAUERKRAUT to redeem!]

If You Could Ferment ANYTHING, What Would It Be? Spontaneous apple cider? Coconut chutney? Kvass? Tomatillo salsa?

Photo Credit: Joe Photo on FlickrSimilar Posts:

• Spontaneous Apple Cider Recipe
• Easy Peasy Raw Yogurt Recipe
• Cider Take 2
• Cultured Salsa Recipe

The Butcher, The Baker, The Yogurt-Cheese Maker

I’ve been wanting to make yogurt cheese for years. But to do that, I’d have to make yogurt. And to do THAT, I’d have to know how. The last time someone mentioned yogurt to me, there were thermometers involved, and honestly it just seemed too complicated to add to the three-ring circus I call kitchen prep.

Then came GAPS. Goodbye cheese (for now). Goodbye butter (Hello ghee. I’m glad you’re here but it’s not the same). Goodbye kefir (see you soon). What did that leave me with? Yogurt. You bet I learned to make it!

The funny part is it’s so quick and easy to make, yet I feel this sense of domestic joy bubble up within every time I pull a warm jar of creamy goodness out of my dehydrator . . . like I’ve really accomplished something! Did I mention it’s easy? Barely even qualifies as a recipe, I’d say, but I’ve added lots of pictures for those of you that like complicated recipes. For the rest of you here’s the nutshell version: Pour. Mix. Leave in a warm area.

A Few Notes About Using Raw Milk:

• Raw milk is extremely nutritious in my opinion. However, it needs to come from a trusted source with healthy animals and safe handling practices. If you don’t have access to clean raw milk, bring it almost to a boiling point and then allow to cool to 115F before adding the yogurt culture.
• Yogurt made from raw milk is not as thick as what you’ll find at the store. If you like a creamier consistency, the starter culture name ABY-2C from The Dairy Connection is supposed to yield a very thick consistency. Or you can  strain it in a plastic colander lined with cheesecloth. The thin liquid that drips into the bowl below is whey, which is wonderful for making cultured salsa, raspberry preserves, or sauerkraut.

Easy Peasy Raw Yogurt

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts (8 cups) raw milk (where to buy raw milk)
• Yogurt or kefir starter OR 2/3 cup yogurt with live active cultures (where to buy yogurt starters)

Equipment:

• Three or four wide-mouthed glass jars with tight-fitting lids
• Medium mixing bowl
• Wood spoon
• Dehydrator that can accommodate jars inside OR a medium-sized cooler

Dehydrator Method:

1. Pour milk into large mixing bowl
2. If you’re using a starter, dissolve it in a little bit of warm milk, then add to the bowl. If you’re using live yogurt simply add it directly to the bowl.
3. Stir with a wooden spoon – It may be an urban legend, but I’ve heard that allowing live cultures such as yogurt and kefir grains to come into contact with metal can kill them. I suppose it’s possible, since silver has antibacterial properties, that certain metals are harmful to bacteria (good or bad).
4. Pour into jars and seal with tight-fitting lid
5. Place in dehydrator set at 105F-115F for at least 24 hours (no lids in this pic but they should already be there)

For the Cooler Method, check out this post from Cara at Health Home & Happiness. Since you’re using raw milk simply ignore the heating instructions and move to the next step.

 Similar Posts:

• Cultured Salsa Recipe
• Cider Take 2
• Spontaneous Apple Cider Recipe
• Let Fermented Foods Do Your Dirty Work

I’ll admit, I was a little nervous about fermenting salsa. Would it be frothy, mushy or just plain bad? To my surprise it tastes just like . . . salsa! Good salsa, too. Since I live smack dab in the heart of Tex-Mex country I feel qualified to say that, thankyouverymuch.

If I had known making cultured salsa was this easy I would have done it ages ago. Enjoy!

Equipment:

1 quart mason jar with tight fitting lid

Ingredients:

• Four medium or six small tomatoes – cut into halves
• ½ small red onion, chopped (about ¾ cup)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• ½ – 1 large jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1 cup cilantro, chopped
• ½ cup parsley, chopped
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• juice of two limes
• 1 Tablespoon unrefined sea salt
• ¼ cup whey
• ¼ cup filtered water

Method:

1. If you’re using a food processor, add garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, parsley, onion, cumin, salt, whey and lime juice together and pulse until finely chopped.
2. Squeeze juice and seeds – as much as you possibly can – from tomatoes and add to food processor. Pulse just a few times – if the tomatoes are pureed the salsa will ferment too quickly.
3. If you hand chopped your ingredients, go ahead and dice the tomatoes some more
4. Mix all ingredients and fill jar, leaving one inch of space at the top. If you hand chopped the ingredients, mash them together with a meat mallet so that they will release their juices.
5. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about two days.
6. Place in refrigerator to slow down the fermenting process. Technically it should last 2-3 months, but I promise it won’t last that long!

When to introduce: Anytime after very first foods.Similar Posts:

• Cider Take 2
• Spontaneous Apple Cider Recipe
• Easy Peasy Raw Yogurt Recipe
• Let Fermented Foods Do Your Dirty Work

In Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon says to put whey into the apple juice when making cider. Do you know the reason/benefit for doing this?

Comment from Jessica on yesterday’s post

Good question, Jessica! I am not an expert by any means, but I believe that using whey and salt as she suggests would yield in a more fermented end product. The spontaneous version is charming because it reminds me of a time when people actually harvested wild yeast to help bread rise and beer ferment, but the end result is not as predictable as whey ferments.

For people that do not have access to whey the spontaneous version is a fun and easy way to get started with fermentation, but if you have the ingredients why not boost the benefits of fermentation with Sally Fallon’s recipe? Here it is if you don’t happen to have a copy of her book on hand.

Ingredients

• about four dozen organic apples or 1 gallon unpasteurized and preservative-free apple juice
• 1 heaping tablespoon unrefined sea salt (where to buy salt)
• ½ cup whey

Instructions

1. Wash, seed and juice apples. Remove as much foam as possible from the top.
2. Strain juice into a large bowl (the mouth needs to be wide for maximum exposure to the air). Cover with a cloth and set it on the counter for three days.
3. Skim off any additional foam that rises to the top, then pour juice into two quart-sized jars, cover tightly and refrigerate. According to Sally Fallon, “Flavors will develop slowly over several weeks. The cider will eventually develop a rich buttery taste and may become slightly effervescent. The sediment will fall to the bottom of the container and should remain there if the cider is poured out carefully.”

Photo Credit: Matt BeldykSimilar Posts:

• Spontaneous Apple Cider Recipe
• Cultured Salsa Recipe
• Let Fermented Foods Do Your Dirty Work
• Easy Peasy Raw Yogurt Recipe

This is so easy I almost feel guilty for making it into a full blog post, but when you taste this sweet brew I think you’ll forgive me.

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon apple juice – You can make your own or buy it at the store. If store bought make sure it does not contain any preservatives, which will inhibit the natural fermentation process.

Instructions:

1. Place juice in a wide mouth jar on the counter. Use a rubber band to secure cheesecloth or a piece of pantyhose over the top. This will allow yeast from the air to come and begin the fermentation process.

2. Let sit for about three days, then taste. It should have a slight tang by this point, but most likely it will not be as full-bodied as you’ll want. Allow to ferment for one to seven more days, depending on your preferred level of fermentation. (Note: If allowed to continue fermenting for a few more weeks your brew will become apple cider vinegar)

3. When you have the cider just the way you want it, put it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process. How’s that for easy?

P.S. If you get started now it will be ready by New Year’s Eve. Just sayin’. 

Photo Credit: Timothy VollmerSimilar Posts:

• Cider Take 2
• Let Fermented Foods Do Your Dirty Work
• Cultured Salsa Recipe
• Easy Peasy Raw Yogurt Recipe